The movie is based on a true story of musician Don Shirley's 1962 tour of the American South, for which the celebrated black pianist hired a white driver, Tony (Lip) Vallelonga, because he was unable to travel safely alone. Director Farrelly co-wrote the script with Brian Hayes Currie and Nick Vallelonga, Tony's son.

Now I see why everyone says the audiences in Toronto are the best in the world.- Green Book director Peter Farrelly

Green Book earned kudos from critics at TIFF for the crowd-pleasing, odd-couple interplay between Ali and Mortensen, beating out two of the most buzzworthy titles of the festival: Barry Jenkins's If Beale Street Could Talk and Alfonso Cuaron's Roma.

"I'm still reeling over the response to the film, so this is just incredible. Thanks so much to the festival: I was truly honoured just to be accepted into it, but to actually win is beyond my wildest dreams," writer-director Farrelly said in a statement read by TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey.

"Now I see why everyone says the audiences in Toronto are the best in the world."

This year's edition of TIFF was the final one for longtime director and CEO Piers Handling, seen left. Artistic director Cameron Bailey, right, will continue, joined by incoming executive director Joana Vicente. (Jeremy Chan/Getty Images)

Green Book, which references the real-life guide that identified safe spaces for African-Americans travelling during the Jim Crow-era, marks Farrelly's first solo feature film effort. He's better known for co-directing outrageous comedies like Shallow Hal, There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber with his brother, Bobby.

TIFF's People's Choice Award is considered an early barometer for further kudos and consideration during the upcoming film awards season this winter. Past winners in recent years have included Room, 12 Years a Slave, La La Land and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which subsequently went on to earn recognition at the Oscars.

This year, about 35 per cent of the 342 films screened at TIFF were directed or co-directed by women, organizers said.

At Sunday's awards ceremony, the trophies were nearly evenly split between male and female filmmakers, with the latter slighting edging out the former. In their acceptance speeches, several female filmmakers spoke of the importance of exploring stories by and about women, and thanked the festival for programming cinema with a variety of voices.

'I think our time has come. More than anything our time has come,' said Carmel Winters, one of seven female filmmakers who won prizes at TIFF's closing awards ceremony. (CBC)

"At the festival, I was at the Share Her Journey rally and I couldn't have felt more proud to be in the company of these brave visionary women," said Irish playwright and filmmaker Carmel Winters. She won the FIPRESCI discovery prize for Float Like a Butterfly,which follows an Irish Traveller teen pushing against expectations as she pursues boxing.

"I think our time has come. More than anything our time has come."

Handling noted that TIFF's global reputation puts the festival in the perfect position to send a message to the film industry about championing women.

"We can show the industry that women's films are really well made. Women's films are popular. Women's films win awards," Handling said after the ceremony.

The 2018 Toronto International Film Festival ends with multiple screenings on Sunday night, including free showings of the People's Choice Award winner at TIFF Bell Lightbox. (Photo: J. Countess, Getty Images/Courtesy of TIFF)